Through The Ages
by AmaterasuChihaya
Summary: Written for the RyoSaku Exchange 2015. Prompt: TYL!RyoSaku, the missing scenes from the time Ryoma was in America, to the TYL!Photo Takeshi Konomi draws himself (the one with Sakuno's braid?) :D (how their relationship grows from friendship to something more? hehe). Please do read and review!
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter One: Age Thirteen**

 _Italics_ represent the letter Sakuno had written to Ryoma at the end of PoT.

 _ **Bolded Italics**_ represent Sakuno's thoughts.

 _*Italics*_ represent sounds.

* * *

 _Dear Ryoma-kun,_

 _Today, I became a junior at Seigaku._

 _Oh, yeah! They decided on a new captain for the boy's team. Momoshiro-senpai was a little too kind to be the captain, it seems._

 _Tomorrow, Tezuka-senpai is leaving for Germany._

 _We all look forward to your events, Ryoma-kun. Whatever you do, please take care of yourself and do your best._

 _P.S. The weather's nice, so the cherry trees came to full bloom today._

The two week old letter fluttered in the warm summer breeze. A hand, slightly bronzed, roughly folded the letter back and pushed it into a pocket. A pair of large, hazel, almond shaped eyes softened into a smile, as if though imagining the cherry blossoms floating down onto the path leading to Seishun Gakuen middle school, or Seigaku for short. A young boy, slightly short for his age, made his way towards the public tennis courts, from where the sounds of bouncing tennis balls emanated.

A smirk made its way onto the boy's face.

 _ **There won't be any 'events' to take part it, as such. But, knowing those guys, they'll come to know soon enough.**_

As the courts came into view, all thoughts about the contents of the letter flew out of his mind, and he centered his attention onto the one thing his life presently revolved around: tennis.

* * *

 _*pok pok*_

Ryuuzaki Sakuno, a thirteen year old junior at the Seishun Gakuen middle school, looked at the T.V. screen in front of her with rapt attention. Her jaws hung slightly open in awe at what she was watching on the screen. Former classmate and friend Echizen Ryoma was beating his opponent to dust on the courts of the French Open, and he seemed to have gotten even better at the game of tennis in the two months' worth of time that he'd spent away from Japan. When she'd gotten wind of the fact from Inui-senpai (she still occasionally ponders on how the man manages to gather data about the most obscure things possible, but has so far remained rather unsuccessful in putting forth a believable hypothesis) that Ryoma was to take part in the French Open, she'd made absolutely sure that her schedule was open at the time when the matches were being aired live from France. Even though Japan was a good eight hours ahead of France, Ryoma's matches were thankfully scheduled early enough for her to watch them without having to stay up.

Sakuno had been a bit disappointed that Ryoma had been unable to continue his journey to the finals of the US Open, but she still had the utmost of faith that the tennis prince would one day stand at the top of the tennis world, given time. His natural aptitude at the sport, prodigy that he was, guaranteed that fact. He was, in fact, currently participating in the final match of the French Open, which was the same match that Sakuno was watching live on T.V.

A loud scream from her best friend and president of the Echizen Ryoma fan club Osakada Tomoka brought her attention back to the match being displayed on the screen. Sakuno breathlessly watched as the match slowly progressed into its final stages.

 _ **Ganbatte, Ryoma-kun! You can do it!**_

The match was currently in Ryoma's favour, and the crowd was eating up the fact that a thirteen year old boy was besting one the foremost players on the tennis front. Ryoma seemed absolutely relaxed even with so many eyes on him, as he calmly bounced the green ball for delivering what he deemed the final serve of the match. His opponent, on the other hand, had beads of sweat trickling down the sides of his face as he stared down his younger adversary. Sakuno could only watch, dumbfounded, as Ryoma served a new and improved version of his signature Twist Serve to his already on-edge opponent. His opponent was, however, able to return to serve with some difficulty, for it takes a certain skill level to be able to take part in and reach the finals of the French Open. Ryoma, however, seemed to have expected this of his opponent and was already in position to return the shot with an even more powerful Cyclone Smash, having activated the Muga no Kyouchi. This time, his opponent was unable to return the shot, and the French Open title was Ryoma's.

Sakuno had been unconsciously clutching onto the hem of her skirt, watching every move that Ryoma made with a great deal of anticipation. Only when the match ended did she realize that she'd been doing so. The cameras were focused on Ryoma's face as the reported barraged him with questions on his experience during the match, what he intended to do further in this tennis season, so on and so forth. Ryoma, however, kept a smirk fixed on his boyish face as he carried out the French Open trophy, leaving all the reporters' questions unanswered. Sakuno, along with Tomoka, had to laugh at Ryoma's attempts of looking cool and cocky in front of the press, owing to his title of the tennis prince. Secretly, however, Sakuno felt extremely proud of the fact that her friend (and not-so-secret crush) had managed to bag one of the most prestigious titles that the world of tennis had to offer, and that too at such a young age. Not that age, or height, was a limiting factor for Ryoma. It was the very opposite. Ryoma, she believed, did his utmost to prove to the world (and himself, at times) that he could be in every way equal to those whom most would consider quite above his skill level, despite a negligibly small set of physical limitations, which primarily included his height, and Sakuno wholeheartedly supported him in his every endeavour, as a friend, and perhaps even more, no matter how far it took him away from her. Being unfailingly supportive of those near and dear to her was one of her quiet strengths, and Sakuno made full use of it whenever and wherever the opportunity arose.

 _*sigh*_

Tomoka looked questioningly at Sakuno.

"I wonder when I'll be able to see Ryoma-kun in person again. Will one of his tournaments bring him back to Japan sometime in the future?"

Tomoka looked a little sadly at her best friend as Sakuno resigned herself to the fact that she might never be able to meet the tennis prince again in the flesh. However, little did Sakuno know that she was in for quite a surprise this tennis season, courtesy of the very prince she so desired to see once again.

* * *

 _*ka-chak*_

Sakuno placed her bag down by the side of her desk, and took her seat as she waited for the day's classes to begin. The last of cherry blossoms could still be seen dancing in the air outside through the classroom windows, and seeing them brought a smile to the young girl's face.

 _ **Was Ryoma-kun able to read the letter I sent him, or was he too busy with practice for the tennis season?**_

 _ **Should I write him another letter?**_

 _ **Maybe I will, just to keep him up to date with all that's happening here in Japan. He would like that, wouldn't he?**_

Sakuno's internal monologue was brought to a halt when the doors of the classroom opened. Their homeroom teacher entered, and after placing the class register on the table, said,

"Good morning, class. As I'm sure you've heard, one of our students has managed to win a prestigious award in the field of sports. However, it would seem that this student intends to focus on his academics, for the time being, while simultaneously participating in a few events held in the country."

Sakuno had quite a bit of difficulty in processing what she had just heard.

 _ **But wouldn't that mean that-**_

"Therefore, class, I would like for all of you to once again welcome Echizen Ryoma to Seishun Gakuen middle school. We hope that you have an enriching experience here at Seigaku, and will be able to make many fond memories for the future."

Sakuno watched as the tennis prince, whom she'd believed that she would perhaps never meet again, stepped into the classroom, a faint look of disinterest etched onto his face. He bowed slightly in gratitude to the teacher, and then looked around for a place in which to seat himself. His eyes landed onto the empty desk next to Sakuno, and he started making his way to said desk.

As he was walking towards her (or rather, beside her), Sakuno took a few moments to take a good look at Ryoma.

 _ **His hair's gotten a big longer, hasn't it? They're almost covering his entire forehead now.**_

 _ **Oh,my, has he possibly grown a bit taller? That would be something now, wouldn't it?**_

Sakuno chuckled softly at her last thought, a chuckle which didn't go unnoticed by Ryoma. His face took on a slight frown as he sat down next to Sakuno, all the while looking at her.

The teacher announced that homeroom would be a free period, and that the students were free to do as they pleased.

"Ne, Ryuuzaki."

"Yes, Ryoma-kun?"

"Why were you laughing at me just now?"

"I-I wasn't lau-laughing at you, Ryoma-kun!"

The tell-tale blush on Sakuno's face, and the slight stutter in her voice said otherwise.

"Is that so?"

"Y-Yes, Ryoma-kun."

Silence. Sakuno fidgeted under Ryoma's unwavering stare, wondering what was it that was on his mind.

 _ **He hasn't taken that chuckle to heart, has he?**_

 _ **He hasn't, right?**_

 _ **He's never been bothered by things like this before, has he?**_

"Um, Ryoma-kun-"

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki."

That stopped Sakuno cold. But before she could ask Ryoma what he was thanking her for, he'd closed his eyes and fallen asleep on his desk. Ryoma's spontaneity always left Sakuno rather dumbfounded. She smiled at the sleeping form of the tennis prince, internally wondering over what she had done for him that should prompt him to thank her.

The cherry blossoms continued to dance in the air, leaving in their wake a slight pink hue and their bewitchingly subtle, sweet smell.

* * *

It'd been three months since Ryoma's return to Seigaku, and the flurry that had arisen over his arrival had once again blown out of proportion, for the autumn season, which brought with it a myriad of colour into everyday life, also marked the arrival of the Japan Open, which was to start in the first week of October. Ryoma had decided to take part in the Japan Open for this year's tennis season, which was why the entire school was so excited.

Sakuno was happy that Ryoma was able to play the game he loved so dearly even though he had to partake in a mundane life, albeit by choice.

 _ **I'd like to go watch his matches in person, in Osaka. That'd be so nice.**_

"Ryuuzaki."

Sakuno stopped mid-walk, surprised. Turning around, she found that the object of her thoughts was walking towards her down the footpath.

"Ryoma-kun? Why aren't you already at school? Don't you have morning practice?"

"The tennis courts are being renovated, or something. So the captain called off practice for today."

"Even after school?"

"Hn."

Ryoma, to her surprise, matched his pace with hers as they walked towards school. Sakuno was a bit stunned that Ryoma would be considerate enough to slow down his pace, but she had no objections to it.

"Um, Ryoma-kun?"

"Hn?"

"I apo-apologize if this is too personal a qu-question, but wh-what do you plan to do after the Ja-Japan Open is over?"

Ryoma remained silent for a while, as if though unwilling to answer the question that Sakuno had put forth.

 _ **Oh dear. Was I overstepping my-**_

"I'm going to return to America, probably."

"America?"

"Yeah. My dad wants me to train for and take part in the Wimbledon for the next tennis season. I'll be taking part in a few competitions each tennis season, until I manage to become a professional tennis player."

"Will y-you go back to America right after th-the Japan Open gets over?"

Once again, silence. This time, however, Sakuno recognised that Ryoma's silence indicated that he was thinking over the question, and waited patiently for his reply.

"No, maybe not. I'll go back to America during the Golden Week."

Sakuno was happy to hear that she would get to spend more time with him, even though they weren't so closely acquainted.

Yet.

 _ **We'll be able to celebrate Ryoma-kun's birthday too before he departs for America! Yes!**_

Sakuno mentally started making arrangements to plan out Ryoma's birthday party with Tomoka, and if possible, with the rest of their former upperclassmen as well.

Lost in her mental deliberations, Sakuno missed the small curious glances that Ryoma threw her way as they made their way to school on that crisp, slightly cold autumn morning.

* * *

 _*huff*_

 _*huff*_

Sakuno's breath fogged in the cold winter air as she made her way along with Tomoka towards her school's tennis courts, where Ryoma and the rest of her upperclassmen would have gathered by now, to celebrate both Ryoma's birthday and Christmas Eve.

The Japan Open had gotten over surprisingly quickly, and Ryoma had managed to bag yet another title to his name within the same tennis season. Sakuno, along with her grandmother, Tomoka, the Ichinen trio and her upperclassmen had gone to watch the finals of the tournament in Osaka, which thankfully had been held on a weekend. Ryoma's oppenent had put up quite a good fight, giving it his all uptill the last moment, and that made the match all the more thrilling both for Ryoma and his audience as well.

 _ **He was smiling even after the match got over. He'd shaken hands with his opponent, which showed the level of respect that Ryoma-kun had for him.**_

"Sakuno, what present did you get for Ryoma-sama?"

"That's a secret, Tomo-chan."

Sakuno smiled at her best friend's mischievous grin as they stepped onto the tennis courts, which had been decorated for the party. Said party had already started, and Sakuno's upperclassmen had already started handing over their gifts to Ryoma.

 _ **Will he like the gift I got him?**_

Tomoka hurried forward towards Ryoma and thrusted out her gift into his face with a,

"Happy Birthday, Ryoma-sama!"

Ryoma looked a bit taken aback by Tomoka's behaviour, but he accepted the gift nonetheless.

Tomoka returned back to Sakuno's side, who was nervously chewing on her lower lip as she watched Ryoma open the gifts that he'd recieved.

"Aren't you going to give your gift to Ryoma-sama, Sakuno?"

"I-I will! Just n-not yet."

As Sakuno continued to look at Ryoma, Tomoka smiled slightly at her best friend's nervouness.

The party continued well into the night, as everyone caught up with Ryoma, discussing new tennis techniques and life decisions. At some point, the topic of Tezuka also came up.

"How's Buchou doing?"

"He's doing rather well in Germany, from what his emails say. He's practicing even harder than before because he's part of the German U-17 squad now."

Fuji replied.

"Hm."

Soon it became dark enough for the party to finally come to an end, and everyone present bid their farewells to Ryoma. Sakuno's grandmother still had some work left to do on the school premises before leaving, so she asked Ryoma to accompany Sakuno uptill the Ryuuzaki household.

Ryoma looked somewhat expectantly at Sakuno as he waited for her to get ready to leave.

"Um, Ryoma-kun, th-thank you for walking me b-back home."

"Hn."

The rest of the walk was comfortably silent, the only exception being Ryoma's gift that was seemingly burning a hole in Sakuno's bag. Ryoma didn't seem very upset by the fact that Sakuno was the only one who was yet to give him a gift for his birthday.

Sakuno was fidgeting with her hands the entire walk back to the Ryuuzaki household, a fact that didn't go unnoticed by the young tennis prince.

Even after reaching the Ryuuzaki household, Sakuno seemed to be nervous about handing over her gift to Ryoma, as she stood before him at the doorway of the house.

"Ne, Ryuuzaki."

"Y-yes, Ryoma-kun?"

"Do you have something you have to give me?"

Ryoma's eyes looked straight into Sakuno's, a fact that surprised her very much, to the point where she forgot her nervousness completely. She slowly reached into her bag and pulled out a rectangular object wrapped in blue with a white ribbon over it. Handing it over to Ryoma, she said,

"Happy Birthday, Ryoma-kun."

"Can I open this now?"

"I-If you'd like to."

Ryoma opened up the ribbon, let it fall to the ground and ripped open the wrapping paper in one swift stroke. From within the box, he pulled out a red tennis bag, to whose chain was attached a keychain having a small tennis ball. On the tennis ball was drawn a caricature of Ryoma's, although this time his hair was drawn a bit longer.

"U-um, I thought that since this year, and the next marks the st-start of your tennis career, you'd like to start it with n-new belongings as you make new me-memories in the various com-competitions that you'll be taking p-part in in the future-"

"Thank you, Ryuuzaki."

The fact that Ryoma said this with a sincere smile, and not his trademark smirk, shocked Sakuno into a silence. However, as Ryoma continued to admire his new tennis bag in front of Sakuno, she said with just as big a smile,

"You're welcome, Ryoma-kun!"

 _ **He liked the gift. He liked it.**_

"I'll be heading off now. Goodnight, and Merry Christmas, Ryuuzaki."

"Goodnight, Ryoma-kun. Merry Christmas to you as well."

Sakuno watched with a soft smile as Ryoma walked away from her into the night, his bright red tennis bag slung over his shoulder.

 _ **Maybe, just maybe, we've become better friends this time round.**_

* * *

A large plane made its way across the sky, heading west towards the Land of Opportunity.

A young pigtailed girl of about thirteen looked up at the sky and watched the plane's progress with a big, warm smile, carrying away from her a young boy whose future lay down a path different, but quite possibly the same, as hers.

She had a feeling that perhaps, they'd get to meet again somewhere along the line, when they'd both changed, almost to an unrecognisable extent.

 _ **Good luck, Ryoma-kun.**_

 _ **We'll all be watching over you.**_

 _ **Grow, and reach the very top of the world, where you truly belong.**_


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter Two: Age Fifteen**

 _ **Bolded Italics**_ represent Sakuno's thoughts.

 _*Italics*_ represent sounds.

 _Italics_ represent Ryoma's note to Sakuno.

* * *

"Good luck, Hideki-kun. Since it's you, I'm sure you'll win the match."

"Thank you very much, Sakuno-chan. I'll do my best to ensure our victory."

Hayashi Hideki, a handsome young man of fifteen, soon to be sixteen, gave Sakuno a warm smile before turning around and heading onto the courts to face his opponent, the Super Rookie of the West, Tooyama Kintarou from Shitenhouji.

The Seishun Gakuen tennis club had managed to make their way into the semi-finals, on account of the many talented players like Hideki who had joined the club after Seigaku's hard earned victory in the National finals during Sakuno's first year as a middle schooler, and were now facing off against Shitenhouji for a place in the National Finals during Sakuno's third and final year as a middle schooler.

 _ **If Hideki-kun manages to win this Singles Two match, we'll once again be proud National finalists.**_

"What; Koshimae isn't here?"

"Echizen-kun has much better opponents to face overseas, Tooyama-kun. For now, please make do with me as your opponent."

 _ **It seems that Tooyama-kun is as smitten with Ryoma-kun now as he was two years back.**_

 _ **Not that I can blame him for that.**_

As Hideki stood on the courts, waiting for the referee to start the match, Sakuno discreetly studied his profile, mentally comparing him with Ryoma. Small locks of jet black hair that were parted towards the left crowned a round face in which sat a pair of clear midnight blue eyes. At a height of 5'8", Hideki was an absolute gentleman in his mannerisms, with a perfectionist attitude and good looks to boot. He was conscious of his skills as a tennis player, which he had honed with years of hard-work, but he wasn't boastful of them in the least.

 _ **Quite unlike a certain green-haired cocky prince.**_

Sakuno smiled at the thought of Ryoma, her mind unconsciously drifting away from the match and towards the tennis prince who was slowly but surely making his way into the highest ranks of the tennis world. Just last year he'd made it into the finals of Wimbledon, and had successfully managed to acquire the title to the infamous grass courts of the United Kingdom. The media had gone off their rockers over the fact that Ryoma was the youngest person ever to win a Wimbledon title, and had covered his life, both public and private, to a great extent in the few months after the tournament. He'd participated in a lot more tournaments last season, but the media coverage for them was incomparable to that of the Wimbledon.

After the rage over his win had subsided, Ryoma had once again shown up to participate in the Australian Open to herald the start of the new tennis season, and into whose finals he had (quite obviously) managed to progress into.

"-uno. Sakuno!"

Tomoka whispered from her side, which effectively brought her attention back to the ongoing match between Hideki and Kintarou. Hideki was just returning a shot back to Kintarou, when said oppenent began running towards the net. Kintarou jumped high up into the air mid-run and began spinning wildly, giving an indication of his finishing move,

"Super Ultra Great Delicious Mountain Storm!"

Sakuno, slightly worried about Hideki's chances of winning the match, looked at him, but he looked strangely confident. He jogged up close to the net, standing almost directly below Kintarou, arms slightly outstretched as if though he intended to directly receive the powerful smash shot head-on.

 _ **That's ridiculous!**_

 _ **Tooyama-kun's smash shot isn't one that is easily returnable!**_

 _ **What is Hideki-kun think-**_

 _*smash*_

The green tennis ball lodged itself into the wall on Kintarou's side of the court, slowly spinning to a stop as it carved a deeper hole in the wall. Kintarou landed onto the court, looking a bit taken aback, but then grinned at Hideki and said,

"Your win, Hayashi."

Sakuno was stunned. Hideki was a strong player in his own right, but Kintarou was no easy opponent. He'd given Ryoma a run for his money even in his first year of middle school, and in the two years that Sakuno hadn't seen him, he'd grown even stronger.

 _ **Looks like I've underestimated Hideki-kun's strength.**_

Hideki gave the audience a tired smile, walking towards the net for a final handshake with Kintarou as the Seigaku entourage began to wildly cheer for him, and the place in the National Finals that he'd just assured for them by his victory. Sakuno was also animatedly clapping for the young boy with a huge smile.

"We'll win the National Finals again this year, won't we?"

"Our opponent for the finals will most likely be Rikkaidai, Tomo-chan. I can't say for sure that our victory is guaranteed, no matter how strong we are. That's just how good Rikkaidai is, I believe. They're known as the national champions for a reason."

"That's true. But still, with a player like Hideki-sama on our side, don't we have a higher probability of winning?"

"I suppose."

A pause. Then-

"If it were Ryoma-sama we were talking about right now, you wouldn't be so hesistant, would you, Sakuno?"

"Th-that's not tr-true, Tomo-chan!"

"Ah, but you're stuttering!"

"S-so what of it?"

Tomoka only smiled at the slight blush which now prevailed over her best friend's face. Sakuno had only recently stopped stuttering when talking to people, even if they were absolute strangers. Her self-confidence levels had slowly increased over the two years in middle school, and she'd steadily become mature and more aware of herself as a person.

However, when it came to Ryoma, that slight stutter of hers was ever-present.

"Nothing, Sakuno. Nothing at all."

Sakuno frowned at the self-indulgent grin that Tomoka had on her face.

 _ **Mou, Tomo-chan. When will you stop teasing me about Ryoma-kun?**_

 _ **He's a good friend of mine, and nothing more.**_

 _ **Ryoma-kun has to grow so much more! His potential is bottomless when it comes to tennis, and that potential takes away what little time he might have otherwise been able to devote to other things.**_

 _ **That is a sacrifice he is willing to make, and I will always support his every decision.**_

 _ **So for now, I am okay with the way things are.**_

 _ **Because no one knows what the future holds for us, right?**_

* * *

 _*ka-chak*_

Sakuno slowly pulled out a tray from the oven, on which were present freshly baked chocolate chip cookies. She was baking them for the occasion of Valentine's Day, for distributing amongst her close friends with whom she was to meet today. As she hummed a soft tune under her breath while packing the cookies into small bags, the doorbell to her house rang.

"Coming!"

Even as Sakuno made her way from the kitchen towards the hall, the doorbell continued to incessantly ring. Rather than being irritated by this, however, she could only smile, for this could only mean one thing.

 _ **She's already here, huh? As excitable as always, I see.**_

 _ **Well, something would have to go horribly wrong for her to not be this excited.**_

Sakuno finally reached the door and opened it with a chuckle and a warm smile on her face.

"Good morning, Hitomi-chan. It's nice to be able to see you once again."

The girl who stood at the doorstep of the Ryuuzaki household, Tsukino Hitomi, smiled widely at Sakuno.

"Good morning, Sakuno-senpai! It's good to see you again after such a long time as well. I've been so lonely these past few months since you, Hideki-senpai and Tomoka-senpai have been busy preparing for all of your high school entrance exams!"

"Well, that's not something we can do anything about, can we? Anyways, come in; it's a bit cold out here."

"Pardon the intrusion! Sakuno-senpai, your house is as quaint as ever."

"Why, thank you, Hitomi-chan. I'll be in the kitchen preparing some tea, so please make yourself at home meanwhile."

As Sakuno stood in the kitchen boiling the water to prepare tea, she briefly studied the young girl seated on the sofa in her living room. At the age of fourteen, Tsukino Hitomi was a short-statured and optimistic underclassman with pale grey eyes and dark red wavy hair, and was much like Tomoka in her mannerisms, the only exception being her loudness. While Tomoka could shout with quite a bit of gusto, Hitomi was rather soft-spoken. But despite that, Hitomi was very proactive, and Sakuno often found herself in unwanted situations owing to the both of them. Nonetheless, their positivity made even the most bleak of situations look bright, and that was something that Sakuno was endlessly grateful for. She also suspected that her underclassman might have a very large crush on Hideki, but Sakuno had yet to receive any verbal confirmation of the same from her.

"Sakuno-senpai, you're making cookies for all of us, right?"

"That's right. Would you like some to go with your tea? They're freshly baked."

"Yes, please!"

Sakuno chuckled as she brought over the piping hot tea and cookies to where Hitomi was seated. Sakuno took a seat opposite her and smiled fondly as the younger girl devoured the cookies with an appetite to rival Takeshi's.

"Sakuno-senpai, you're going to be sending some of these cookies to Echizen-san as well, right?"

Sakuno looked rather surprised. She hadn't expected Hitomi to know what she was going to do for Ryoma for Valentine's Day.

"Tomo-chan told you, huh?"

"Yes. Sorry if I wasn't supposed to know!"

"It's alright, Hitomi-chan. I'm only surprised, not upset. And yes, I will be sending the cookies to Ryoma-kun as well."

 _ **Whether he eats them or not is a different question altogether.**_

"I see."

The two girls lapsed into a comfortable silence as they waited for the third and final member of their party, Tomoka, to arrive at the Ryuuzaki residence. Their entire group had decided to meet up for a lunch picnic at Yoyogi Koen for a break from studies and to catch up with each other. As Sakuno nibbled on the last cookie on the plate, having long ago finished her tea, a thought occurred to her.

"Hitomi-chan, what are you going to give Hideki-kun for Valentine's Day?"

At the mention of Hideki's name, the young girl's head flew up, a soft blush evident on her pale cheeks. The teacup in her hand shook slightly, and a look of serious contemplation overtook Hitomi's face, as if though wondering how to answer the question that Sakuno had posed to her.

"I..."

"I will be giving honmei chocolate to Hideki-senpai today. I would like to know what he thinks of me, once and for all. Ah, but please don't mention anything about this to Tomoka-senpai! I wouldn't hear the end of it otherwise.",

Hitomi said with a small smile.

"Of course; your secret's safe with me. Good luck, Hitomi-chan! If you need me for anything, you need only to ask."

"Thank you, Sakuno-senpai! I appreciate it."

Sakuno merely smiled at her, picked up the empty dish and teacups and headed back to the kitchen.

 _ **She's one brave girl, Hitomi-chan. I hope Hideki-kun returns her feelings as well, or may come to return them in the future. I can think of no one more deserving than her.**_

Just as Sakuno finished washing the dirty dishes, the doorbell to her house rang, signaling the arrival of Tomoka.

"Hitomi-chan, could you open the door and wait there for me for a minute? I just have something to pick up from my room."

"Sure, Sakuno-senpai. We'll be waiting!"

Sakuno rushed to her room from the kitchen as Hitomi headed towards the door of the household. On her bed was placed a handbag, in which Sakuno had placed all her necessities, and a smallish box, wrapped in white, with a blue ribbon around it. Sakuno smiled down at the box in her hand as she made her way towards the door, where her friends were waiting for her.

 _ **I hope Ryoma-kun likes the cookies I have made!**_

* * *

The wind rustled through the sparse-leafed ginko trees populating Yoyoki Koen. Sakuno, along with Tomoka, Hitomi, Hideki, Satoshi, Katou and Katsuo sat at the outskirts of the ginko forest of the park, enjoying each other's company and the beautiful weather outdoors.

"It was a close game with Rikkai this time round, wasn't it, Hayashi?",

Satoshi said.

"Yeah. I regret not having been able to win the finals, but I definitely look forward to meeting the Rikkai team and their senpais again next year."

"That's true.",

Katou said.

"How's your studying coming along, Tomo-chan? All ready for the upcoming entrance exams?"

"Don't talk about studies here, Sakuno! We came here to get away from all that, didn't we?"

"Tomoka-senpai's right, Sakuno-senpai! Atleast give yourself these few hours off from studies!"

"Alright, alright. We won't talk about studies then."

"Oh yeah, Tomoka-senpai, did you watch yesterday's episode of 'Operation Love'?"

"Oh god, yes!"

Both Tomoka and Hitomi immersed themselves in the discussion of the episode, with Sakuno giving a few of her inputs in between.

As the girls chattered away excitedly, Sakuno looked over to the boys, who were in their own world of tennis. They'd already opened up the packets of cookies that Sakuno had given to them for Valentine's, and were almost through with it.

Hideki and Hitomi were sitting next to each other in their circle, and Sakuno noticed that she was leaning a bit away from him. Whether she was doing so consciously or otherwise was something that Sakuno didn't know. Hideki was also looking at Hitomi out of the corner of his eyes; Hitomi's behaviour hadn't gone unnoticed by him either.

The group chattered away and lay lazing around until early evening, after which they decided to leave because otherwise it would get quite late for each of them in getting home.

Hitomi had yet to give Hideki the chocolates that she'd made for him. She'd given giri chocolates to the rest of the group; only Hideki was left to receive something from her, a fact that didn't seem to bother him. Hideki lived in a direction opposite to the rest of them, so he bid farewell to them at the park's gate and set off to the nearby station.

Sakuno was standing next to Hitomi, watching with her as Hideki left for the station from the gate.

"Are you sure you want to leave things like this, Hitomi-chan?",

Sakuno whispered.

"I don't know. I decided to get things done once and for all today, but I'm scared, senpai. I'm scared!"

Sakuno looked quietly at the girl by her side, the girl who was ignorant of her own decisiveness and courage.

"Don't worry, Hitomi-chan. Since it's you, you'll be fine. Besides, no matter what happens, I'm here for you, aren't I?"

Hitomi looked disbelievingly at Sakuno, but the quiet strength in her eyes slowly melted away the subtle fears that were clawing at her. She wordlessly threw her arms around Sakuno and squeezed tightly. Sakuno retuned the hug effortlessly and with just as much of love. Hitomi then pulled herself away from Sakuno, gave her a grateful smile, turned around and ran in the direction of Hideki's departure.

Tomoka tried to call after her underclassman.

"Hitomi, where are you-?"

Sakuno simply placed an arm on Tomoka's shoulder.

"Let her go, Tomo-chan. She has things to do."

Tomoka's eyes widened slightly at this, but she wordlessly nodded and pulled Satoshi, Katou and Katsuo towards their own destination.

Sakuno looked towards the direction in which Hitomi had left.

 _ **I wish you all the happiness that the world can spare for you, Hitomi-chan. And should that not be the case, I hope my presence and my friendship will be of sufficient help to you in the near and far future.**_

 _ **Know that I will always do my level best to be there for you, because you are important to me.**_

Soft brown strands of hair trailed behind Sakuno as she walked towards a waiting Tomoka, thoughts of Hitomi and Hideki plaguing her mind.

* * *

The deep, resounding chime signaled the end of the exam. Sakuno got up from her seat and stretched, relieved that the last of her entrance exams were finally over. Bending slightly, she retrieved her writing utensils from her table and waved to Hideki, who was in the same room as her. Hideki was to give a few more exams before he could relax, and Sakuno greatly sympathized with him.

"How was the exam, Sakuno-chan?"

"It was quite good. I had already expected and practiced for most of the questions that came in the paper."

"Good for you. Well, I'll be heading out first; Hitomi's waiting for me."

Sakuno smiled at him. Hitomi had called her later that night and told her that Hideki had happily accepted her chocolate, and had actually been waiting to see if Hitomi would approach him first or not. He had, fortunately, not been disappointed.

"See you later, Hideki-kun. I hope you have a good plan in store for today for Hitomi-chan."

"Of course. Hitomi won't let me off the hook if I don't give her a memorable White Day; she said so herself.",

Hideki said with a parting wave.

Sakuno waved at the departing Hideki's back, after which she set about packing her bag and then left the exam hall herself.

 _ **Today is finally White Day, huh?**_

She remember how excited Hitomi had sounded over the phone that day about the prospects that her relationship with Hideki provided, including White Day. She was very happy for both of her friends, and wished them all the luck and happiness in the future of their relationship.

 _ **I wonder what Ryoma-kun is doing right now.**_

Sakuno's face took on a sad smile. As happy as she was for her friend, she couldn't help but feel a bit sad that she hadn't been able to see Ryoma all year. His tennis priorities had kept him away from the country, even though his matches were telecasted world over for one and all to see. She was very proud of his achievements, including his victory at the Australian Open at the start of the season, but she wanted to see him in person to know that he doing okay, and that he was holding on to his dream, as he always had.

 _ **Did he eat the cookies I sent him?**_

 _ **Were they okay by the time they reached him? I did add a note warm the cookies before eating them, but did he have the time to do that?**_

 _ **I hope sending him those cookies wasn't a bother.**_

Sakuno had managed to make her way back home, even though she had been so lost in her thoughts.

 _ **My sense of direction has improved quite a bit, hasn't it?**_

The thought brought a chuckle to Sakuno's lips.

As she stepped through the gate of her house, she noticed that her mailbox was open, and that there was something inside. She walked over to it and pulled out a rectangular box, wrapped in baby pink paper with a pastel green ribbon over it. However, the smile on her face disappeared, replaced by faint shock, as she read the tag attached to the ribbon.

 _To Wobbly Hips._

 _ **This is from Ryoma-kun?**_

Sakuno slowly sat down on the steps of her house, and tried to gather her thoughts before opening the gift. After having sufficiently calmed down, Sakuno pulled open the ribbon, tore off the wrapping and slid open the box.

Inside the box was a set of bright red ribbons, a pair of baby pink sweatbands and a folded note. Sakuno took out the paper and read it.

 _The cookies were good._

 _Happy White Day._

 _P.S.: Your hair's still too long._

Stunned, Sakuno folded back the note and put in back into the box. Then she stared at the contents of the box for the longest time, before bursting out into raucous laughter, to the point where tears streamed out of her eyes. Once all her laughter had abated, Sakuno wiped away her tears and stood up, somewhat shakily.

 _ **Thank you for the lovely gift and for making my day, dear tennis prince.**_

Sakuno's bout of laughter left in its wake a smile that didn't vanish even as she entered her house, closing the door softly behind her.


End file.
